


Fire and Rain

by let_love_run_red



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Firefighters, F/F, F/M, Firefighter Kylo Ren, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, No gender specified, firefighter!Kylo, gender neutral reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:48:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28367922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/let_love_run_red/pseuds/let_love_run_red
Relationships: Kylo Ren & You, Kylo Ren/Reader, Kylo Ren/You
Kudos: 10





	Fire and Rain

You let out a huff and rolled over in the bed, sliding your arm over Kylo's midsection and nuzzling your face further into his neck. He was warm, almost too warm for a California summer morning, but they'd been fighting wildfires in shifts for the past week and this was the first time he'd had a chance to sleep at home in three days.

You could deal with him being warm.

You could hear him suck in a deep breath, then all his muscles tensed as he stretched. He curled his toes and lifted his arms above his head, letting out a slight hum from his throat as he warmed up his vocal cords for the day. He lowered his hands, resting one on the small of your back and his other arm over his eyes, covering the scar over his eyes. He's gotten it when a fire he'd been near dropped a tree. The fall had blown the old dead tree to bits and one of the stray branches had hit him in the face.

He'd decided to go back fighting the fires of Redwood National Park. You begged him not to, the accident had left him in the hospital for weeks. His face had been burned and scarred, not to mention the pieces of tree embedded in his chest. He still wanted to fight fires, but he came up with a compromise.

He rejoined the National Parks Services fire management crew but not as part of their ground crew. He'd trained and certified to join their air team, and he was proud of it. He piloted a Bell 206 helicopter. They called it the LongRanger. He'd been part of their aerial management team for two years now, but this was by far the worst wildfire they'd they'd fought. He came back with stories of freak updrafts and embers that spread too easily, not to mention the people who thought it was fun to start more fires.

"Good morning." He rumbled, dragging his fingertips gently over the soft skin of your shoulders. You hummed in response and pulled him tighter against you. He grumbled and stretched again.

"Babe, I love you but I am so hot right now." He said with a chuckle and scooted off the bed. You weren't hurt, you agreed with him honestly, it was too hot.

"Do you have to go in today?" You asked as he stretched again. His back and shoulders popped before he crossed the room to pull a clean pair of boxers from the dresser, pulling them up his bare legs.

"I'm sorry baby, you know I do. I'm their only chopper pilot." He said, pulling a clean T-shirt with the insignia of their crew embroidered on the chest from the dresser. He put on a pair of jeans to go with it and walked into the bathroom to brush his shoulder length hair.

You climbed out of the bed, taking one of his shirts from the dresser and pulling it on over your head. You followed him into the bathroom, leaning against his back and wrapping your arms around his waist while he brushed his hair.

"I'll pick you up after work?" You asked hopefully. He was always tired after his shifts, you worried about him driving home.

"Of course Darling. Hux was going to give me a ride in anyway." He said as he set the brush down. This was good. You could see him after his shift, spend time together. You had a bad feeling about today but you tried to push that down as he lifted your hand to his lips, planting a soft kiss on your knuckles.

* * *

 _"Ren do you copy?"_ Phasma called over the radio. Kylo had been doing recon on where the wildfire had spread through the night. It was farther than he'd anticipated, they would have their work cut out for them.

"Yeah I copy, what's up Phasma?" He asked.

 _"We've got a place near the river we can't get in with the planes. We need you to come do a drop, split-load, direct approach."_ Phasma called. Ren confirmed over the radio, heading towards their location following the river.

"Shit this ones big." He muttered. He could see the smoke and embers spreading rapidly with the wind speeds and the dry brush. There had been budget cuts, the rangers were having a hard time managing the forest, especially with the influx of campers.

He angled the LongRanger towards the place Phasma had specified and it rumbled with a sudden downdraft. He corrected his pitch, trying to keep the old machine in the air. It was a rattley thing, one he didn't fully trust, but as long as he could anticipate the fire and the air movements it was ok.

"Fuck, fuck!" He shouted as the downdraft was replaced with an updraft that blew from the fire, tossing the chopper to the other side of the river away from the fire. 

"Phasma!" He called into the radio as alarms began flashing on the console. Something in the engine had seized, he couldn't straighten the chopper as it spun wildly/

"Phasma I've lost control! The Ranger is going down, just North of-Fuck!" He shouted as the rotors connected with the trees, tossing the Ranger around before dropping through the ancient redwoods and falling to the ground with a mighty thud.

* * *

You pulled up to the base, pulling your car off to the side away from the runway. The base was buzzing, the planes were being refueled and refilled with the flame retardant. Phasma, Kylo's second in command, was barking orders that you couldn't hear as people rushed around. 

You approached her with a smile. She hadn't noticed your arrival. You didn't see Kylo's helicopter anywhere on the tarmac, which likely meant he was still out with the fire.

"Phasma!" You called. She turned to you, face pale with bags under her eyes. Something wasn't going their way and it showed.

"(y/n)." She said, almost shocked. "I didn't know we'd see you today." She said. She still wouldn't match your grin. Something was definitely wrong.

"Yeah I'm picking Kylo up today. Any idea when he'll be back in?" You asked. Phasma cleared her throat and rested one hand on her hips, running the other through her blonde hair.

"Um, (y/n) something happened." She said. Your face fell.

"What happened?" You asked. She was quiet.

"Phasma, what happened?" You asked more insistently.

"We were out with the fire, I called Kylo in to flank it with the Ranger. He was on his way, and then he radioed in and said he was losing control of the chopper." She said. You could feel tears welling in your eyes.

"We don't know where he went down (y/n)." She finished. "His radio cut out before he could give us the location." She said.

"Why is everyone still here?" You asked, tears streaming down your cheeks. Why weren't people looking for him? Why was everyone _here_?

"(y/n) this is the new shift, everyone is out looking for him. But we need people here for the fires." She said. You let a sob escape from your chest, leaning into Phasma as she pulled you into a hug.

"We'll find him (y/n)."

* * *

It had been two days since Kylo's chopper had gone down. They found the Ranger, it was nothing more than a mangled ball of steel under a few tree limbs it had brought down when it crashed. Kylo was nowhere to be found. Any tracks he had left has been erased by the fresh black bear tracks, then razed by the fire that had passed through the area.

You had joined the search party. A base had been set up at the Redwood Creek overlook, on Bald Hills Road. It was closest to the place Kylo had last radioed in at. There had been search parties, volunteers, the rest of the team came in during their time off, looking for their chief.

You'd started to give up hope. The fire had been contained, thanks to one of the rare rainstorms that passed through the area and helped the crew. But the fire, then the rain, had erased any sign of where Kylo could have been. You knew what was in these woods, it was your job as a park biologist to know.

You were walking down the road a ways from the temporary base. You needed some space, some air, somewhere to think. Everyone had been treating you like a widow. Like he was already dead. You took a sip from your water bottle, wondering where Kylo could be.

Off to your right came a sound like a deer crashing wildly through the brush. You paused, turning to look at the sound. You weren't sure what to expect, the only animals that strayed this close to here were moose and the occasional brave deer. The people at the outlook usually drove them off.

You saw a mess of black hair in the forest, followed by a familiar string of cursing. Kylo pulled himself from the bushes, chest heaving as he leaned heavily on a piece of broken tail rotor. There was another piece of rotor strapped to his left leg as he hobbled towards the road. The black emergency pack from the Ranger was strapped to his back.

"Kylo?" You asked in disbelief. He looked up at you. His face was caked with ash and soot, there were burns on his arms and he sagged in relief when he saw you.

"(y/n), oh my god." He said, trying to move to you. You rushed towards him, sliding your arms around his midsection. He grimaced, letting out a cough as he leaned his weight on you.

"Kylo, Kylo I thought I lost you." You said, sobbing into his chest. He leaned more of his weight on you, heaving as coughs wracked his chest.

You pulled back, looking at his face and wiping some of the ash off his cheeks. There were bags under his eyes and his cheeks were hollowed. He swallowed dryly when he finished coughing and you offered him your water bottle.

"Drink baby, please." You said. You supported his weight as he took the bottle, drinking greedily from it. He sighed in relief as you pulled out your radio, pressing the button.

"Phasma, do you copy?" You asked, trying to keep the emotion from your voice.

 _"Copy, what is it (y/n)?"_ Phasma asked.

"I found him, I've got Kylo." You said. There was silence from Phasma's end.

 _"Is he,"_ Kylo cut her off as she paused.

"I'm alive Phasma. Takes more than a helicopter and a fire to kill me." He said. You chuckled. Despite being in obvious pain he still had his humour.

 _"Ren! Do you know what you did?! People have been out here looking for you for days and you finally show up?"_ Phasma snapped over the radio. Kylo chuckled then coughed again.

"Hey Phas, if it isn't too much trouble, we could use some help." Kylo said. You gave Phasma the location, not too far from the outlook, and within minutes she was there with a team of medics.

"Babe you keep looking at me like I'm going to disappear." He said as they forced him to at least sit on the stretcher they had brought.

"You did disappear." You said, holding his hand in yours while they walked.

"And now I'm back." He said, kissing your knuckles the way he had the morning he disappeared.

"And I'm not going to leave you again."


End file.
